Zoe Ladyman and Nick Creswick had two reasons to celebrate the birth of their second child, Griffin, at the Women’s. He was born on 26 January so he was an Australia Day baby, but he was also a COSMOS baby because his mum was cared for in a pilot program of the same name.
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COSMOS stands for Comparing Standard Maternity care with ‘One to one’, continuity of care, midwifery Support. The ongoing study is evaluating a one-to-one midwifery model of care for women at low risk of pregnancy complications.
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 | Zoe Ladyman (left), baby Griffin and midwife Juanita White
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| For Zoe it meant that Juanita White, plus up to three other midwives, were her key midwifery contacts throughout her antenatal period, birth, postnatal and domiciliary period.
The two women have formed a bond through the months of the pregnancy. As a result, Zoe said she felt empowered because she had someone throughout the birth who understood her and her situation perfectly.
“Being a COSMOS mum was a terrific experience,” Zoe said. She said it was totally different from the birth of their first child, Beatrix, at the Women’s three years earlier.
“It made a world of difference to have Juanita there at the birth. It was so important to have someone you know there at your side to cut through the fear and uncertainty of pregnancy and labour.
“At some stages of delivery you can become frightened and if you are surrounded by a sea of faces of people you don’t know, it only makes the experience worse.
With a familiar face there, especially someone so competent and compassionate, you are a bit more relaxed and it all goes so much better,” Zoe said.
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The COSMOS trial, run in partnership with Latrobe University, has recruited more than 1,500 women so far.
Half of these women are receiving one-to-one care and the remainder choose from all other pregnancy care models available at the Women’s.
Tanya Farrell, Director of Maternity Services at the Women’s, said the trial is one of the ways the hospital is working to tailor and improve individualised care plans for women in their antenatal and postnatal care as well as during delivery.
“Although there is evidence that one-to-one midwifery care is favoured by many women, and many midwives prefer to work this way, there is little rigorous evaluation of this type of care and how it compares with the usual options for women.
“This is why we are supporting this trial to look for ways to tailor and improve individualised care plans for women in the lead up to, during and post pregnancy,” she said.
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